Draper has risen sharply over the past 12 months and has won a series of well-known career landmarks.
After reaching his first major semi-final at the U.S. Open last year, he made the world’s top five, winning the ATP title on grass and hard courts and reaching Madrid’s first clay field final last month.
Observers with deep knowledge of the game have long insisted that Draper is able to perform well on red dirt, while former UK No. 4 in the world Tim Henman recently told BBC Sport that his best attributes – his left-hand serve and forehand crunch – can “work on any surface”.
Once he competed with Bellucci, Draper proved it again.
Reducing double malfunction helped his first serve increasingly dominant – climbing from 58% of the opening shots in the first set to 92% of the second set – and the number of forehand titles has also increased.
The venom of this shot is too hot for Bellucci to handle – shocking the Parisian crowd, who often gasp with Draper’s strength and accuracy.
Another forehand on his first match point Zinger held a second round victory Thursday against France’s Gael Monfils or Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien.
